"Diana Pops - Fibre and Filament" Art Start Up

Hi, and welcome to the Diana Pops - Fibre and Filament gofundme.

Some of you know me as a singer, or a songwriter, or a jeweller, or as that girl who posts funny stuff on Facebook. Hopefully all of you know me as an artist who is passionate about meticulous work and deep meaning in the things I create.

Last year, after the traumatic and premature birth of my daughter, I was unable to work creating jewellery commissions. After three weeks of sitting on the couch with my 4.5 pound baby, I needed to do something to busy my hands and calm my mind. I picked up a sewing needle and thread, dug up my grandmother's embroidery hoop, and ripped up a cotton pillowcase, and so was born my love affair with textiles and fibre.

Over many sleepless nights in the following months, I held my tiny baby and read and read and read, researching and then designing and creating embroidered works using hundreds of different stitches.

And now, I have fallen for needle felting, which gives me the ability to create sculptural work and add my embroidery, metalwork, and textile knowledge to it to create highly detailed, storied pieces, spangled with whimsy but rooted in traditional craft.

What this work brings is delight. Simple and straight forward. And delight is something we all need. It's something I really needed when I began this work in the heart of the first COVID outbreak, locked in my house with my sweet baby.

I hope to push the limits of the humble needle to communicate artistically, and to lean into the design and crafting of objects that bring joy and sparkle with whimsy and wonderment.

Long term, I hope to be able to offer kits and projects that you can create on your own, as joy should be shared. These kits will require no previous knowledge of felting or embroidery and will come with detailed instructions and whimsical back stories for every character or creation. A little art from my home to your home.

As an artist, creating this work on a high level requires more than a few simple tools and a cozy chair (though those do help immensely). It requires a plethora of different colours and types of wool and fibres, carding tools that give you the ability to blend wools, proper lighting and magnification at a dedicated workspace, a collection of tools designed for the creation of miniature models, and appropriate large scale storage solutions for batts of wool. Additionally, there is the cost of setting this artistic venture up as a business right away so I can get both original art pieces and kits into your hands as soon as possible.

On that note, I hope you might help me make this a more permanent reality. A little goes a long way. If you've benefitted from my jewellery work, or my music, or just chuckled at my Facebook posts, I hope you'll consider supporting me in this endeavor.

The first goal of $5000.00 gets me set up for this venture with all the basic needs to get this project, Diana Pops - Fibre and Filament, off the ground.

The stretch goal of $7500.00 would allow me to purchase additional materials, create a packaging and shipping area in my home studio (shelving and work table) and pay for branded packaging for this venture.

Every cent will go towards the creation of new work, setting up a dedicated workspace and proper fibre storage in my home studio, and tools for embroidery, needle felting, and wool carding. It would make this a possibility in the coming months, as opposed to several years.

And, don't worry, jewellery isn't going anywhere. I'll still be hammering away at the bench on metals commissions.

If you've got to the end, thank you, from the bottom of my artist heart. And thank you for coming along with me into the world of fibre and filament.

Diana

"With the arrogance of youth, I determined to do no less than to transform the world with Beauty. If I have succeeded in some small way, if only in one small corner of the world, amongst the men and women I love, then I shall count myself blessed, and blessed, and blessed, and the work goes on." -William Morris, 1896